patrick.net

A mom who loses a child should always be afforded respect.

But that courtesy wasn’t extended to Maureen Maloney, whose son was killed in 2011 by an illegal immigrant driving drunk.

Maloney prayed to her son for strength Wednesday as she drove to the State House to testify against a controversial bill that would give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses.

“I was just asking him to guide me with my testimony and help me to not have anger in my heart towards the other side,” said Maloney, whose son, Matthew Denice, was dragged to death. “Just do some work through me, use me to try to save other lives.”

At the start of her testimony, Maloney held up a photo of Matthew and recalled how he was killed by an illegal immigrant drunk behind the wheel. About halfway into her 3 minutes of testimony, a man behind Maloney booed the grieving mother.

“It just made me more determined,” said Maloney, who called the heckling disrespectful.

Maloney said she didn’t respond to the heckler and kept speaking.

“I don’t want other people to lose their lives like Matthew did,” Maloney said. “I don’t want other families to go through the heartache that my family deals with. And that’s where I get the strength and the stamina to keep doing this.”

Nicolas Dutan Guaman struck Denice, who was on a motorcycle, with his pickup truck on Aug. 20, 2011. Denice, 23, became trapped underneath the truck and was dragged for a quarter mile in Milford as witnesses screamed for Guaman to stop.

Guaman was sentenced to 12 to 14 years after a judge found him guilty of manslaughter by motor vehicle and motor vehicle homicide while driving drunk.

Wednesday’s hearing was packed with mostly supporters of the bill, Maloney said, and illegal immigrants testified in favor of it.

“Going to hearings like this, talking about it, opens up the wounds and it’s painful,” Maloney said. “And hearing them talk about their fear of separation and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘I have been permanently separated. This is the ultimate permanent separation.’ They’re afraid they’ll be deported but they can take their kids with them or their kids can go visit them. I don’t have that option.”

A few years ago, Maloney spoke out against a similar proposal, and a senator had given her his additional three minutes to testify. When Maloney went over the three minutes, she said people in the audience began booing and hollering that her time was up.

“You get used to it over time,” Maloney said.

No matter what side of the debate you’re on, a parent who has lost a child should never be booed. These families deserve respect.